Vivo Changes in Mechanical Behavior of UHMWPE

WTF versus implantation time for entire cohort of 16 retrieved acetabular components. Data obtained from specimens machined from the surface and subsurface of the v orn and unworn region of the articulating surface. (Adapted from Kurtz et al. 2003.) 

Comparison of GUR 1050 in three conditions as described by the respective load-displacement curves. Longevity and DURASUL are commercially available formulations of highly crosslinked UHMWPE, which exhibit the characteristic geometric strain hardening in the drawing phase of the small punch test. Free radical quenching by remelting UHMWPE above its f eak melt transition typically reduces the observed peak load as exhibited here (Edidin and Kurtz 2001). 

Spiegelberg and associates (2001), who noted a greater crosslink density was observed in UHMWPEs with lower polydispersion indices, with GUR 1050 having the lowest polydispersion index of the materials tested. 

An alternative explanation for the increased wear resistance of GUR 1050 is based on an energy argument arising from the observation that crosslinked 

Relationship between WTF as calculated from equibitixial loading to failure for materials with historical clinical application. Data suggests that adhesive-abrasive wear rates are correlated with the innate WTF of the bearing material (Fdidin et al. 2000). 

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